Azmin’s fault, Umno veep says on lack of consensus on CMCO

Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin today accused International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali of failing to obtain the consensus of state governments before Putrajaya’s announcement last week of a conditional movement control order (CMCO) effective today to kick-start the country’s economy.

(FMT) – In a statement, the former Johor menteri besar said such an important decision should have been discussed with all state governments before implementation.

“This failure indicates significant weaknesses in leadership, strategy and coordination related to the restoration of the economy,” he added.

“This has complicated business and trade activity as Malaysia’s economy is by nature cross-border.”

The CMCO was announced last Friday, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin saying certain economic and social activities would be allowed except for mass gatherings which would expose the public to Covid-19 infections.

He said the MCO which has been in place since March 18 had seen the country incur RM63 billion in losses.

If the partial lockdown continued for another month, he added, losses would touch nearly RM100 billion.

However, Sabah, Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Pahang have decided against implementing the CMCO.

Khaled said Azmin’s failure to discuss the matter and obtain the consensus of all state governments would undermine Putrajaya’s credibility in handling Malaysia’s economic recovery.

He added that it would compromise public confidence in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

“PN’s Cabinet must take note. There is a new narrative in which the relationship between state and federal governments is the ‘new normal’.

“The era of the federal government having the final say is over.”